East is Least Protected from Shed Security

The research showed that over a quarter of people (26%) with sheds in the East of Great Britain do not secure them, even though they may contain high value items such as lawnmowers (49%), garden furniture (38%) and bicycles (31%).

Although it’s easy to think a garden shed contains nothing but old junk, astonishingly, just under a quarter (24%) of shed owners surveyed in the East said it would cost more than £1,000 to replace the items stored in there.

A Yale spokesman said: “The lack of shed security coupled with the high value of the average shed’s contents in the East means that opportunist thieves are stealing expensive bicycles and gardening appliances from unsecured sheds.

“When you consider that a high quality weatherproof padlock can cost just £15 and that a full shed security kit can be under £30 including a simple alarm, it is surprising that people are not taking more care to protect valuable shed contents."

Recent British Crime Survey research shows that thefts from sheds and gardens increased by 16% to 1.25million crimes between September 2009 and September 2010.

For more information on shed and garden security products from Yale call 01902 364647 or visit www.yale.co.uk *All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1997 adults, of which 1312 have a garden shed. Fieldwork was undertaken between 29th – 31st March 2011. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).